Transcription
Rejoicing while being in trouble. How can we rejoice when we are going through some rough seas? How can we rejoice when things are not going the way we anticipated for them to go or they're not going the way we really would like them to go? Rejoicing in distress. Rejoicing when things are closing in on us and suffocating us.
First, what does it mean to be rejoicing in distress? What does it mean? Well, we know according to the biblical teachings, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Second Corinthians 5:7, St. Paul says, we walk by faith, not by sight. Second Corinthians 5:7.
Because my beloved, uh sight is to do with feelings. Sight is to do with feelings. But faith is to do with promises. Why is sight is to do with feelings? Because everything that is visible to the naked eye, everything that is visible to the naked eye, is got to do with the intellect. Because the moment you see things, your intellect starts to think about it. And the moment you start thinking about those things, feelings, emotions kick in, and therefore your judgment will ultimately be based on how you felt about it and how your emotions moved in relation to what you witnessed. In other words, sight is to do with the tangible realm, >> [music] >> with the physical realm, with the materialistic realm, and faith is to do with the spiritual realm, the non-tangible, the invisible realm.
So, St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:7 calls us and encourages us to say we walk by faith, not by sight, because if you walk by sight, you will end up using your feelings and emotions. You see, the human being is made out of three components, body, soul, and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. St. Paul again says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, we are made out of body, soul, and spirit.
What makes up the soul are five components. There is the subconscious mind, there is the conscience mind, there is the will, there is the feelings and the emotions, and there is the thought. So, in the soul, there is the subconscious mind, there is the conscience. Your subconscious and conscience, subconscious affects the conscience, which is your rational mind. Your intellect. And then the will, then the feelings and the emotions, then the thought. My goodness, five things play humongous role in what you see and what you hear. And that's why St. Paul says, you need to be careful that when you follow Christ, you better follow him by faith, not by sight.
Some people, when they come to the Lord Jesus, they expect certain things done by him for them. So, they wait for a miracle, they wait for a sign, they wait for heaven to open up, angels come down like unbelievable supernatural things to happen. And when they don't see that, then they don't feel [snorts] the Lord anymore. That's why it's vital. You follow the Lord by faith, not by sight. On this I could dwell you know, but for about 9 hours and 59 minutes, but I have to move on. >> [clears throat] >>
Now, so we walk by faith, not by sight. Second Corinthians 5:7, memorize it. Second Corinthians 5:7, we walk by faith, not by sight. It's good to memorize biblical verses. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Some people, they measure things with their feelings. Some people, they measure things with their feelings. They say, "I don't feel that God is with me. I don't feel that my situation is successful or good. I don't feel. I feel I'm alone. I feel I'm left behind. I feel I'm unwanted. I feel God has forgotten about me. I feel God is not hearing me anymore. I feel that God has deserted me. God's walked away from me, and there is no one that will ever come to my rescue." And you say, "Why are you saying this?" "Because this is the way I feel." And feelings totally opposite to faith. Even though they both start with the same letter F, but totally different outcomes. Feelings lead you to the tangible realm. Faith leads you to the non-tangible, invisible realm.
However, the Holy Bible teaches us that God is not pleased with neither wealth nor any external matters. God is never pleased with neither wealth nor any external matters. In other words, God is not pleased with whatever is tangible, materialistic, visible to the naked eye. Not interested in that God. Yet, we determine our faith on what we see, not what we believe in. Are you with me?
So, God is not interested in materialistic things. Then what is he pleased with? One thing. His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is pleased in one person and one person only. And God said it in Matthew 3:17. And when I say God, I mean the Father. God the Father. God the Father said it in Matthew 3:17. He said it about his beloved son, this person, the one whom he is pleased with. He said, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." So, when you come to God and ask him, "What pleases you?" he'll say, "My son, Jesus Christ." And he And he Anyone else? No. Anything else? No.
So, now we want to follow God. And this God, nothing pleases him but his son. So, who are you following now? What are we following now? Jesus Christ was pleasing to God in every day of his life and at all times of his life on earth. In every split second that passed by in his entire 33 years and a half on earth, in every second of those 33 years and a half, they were pleasing to God. And every day that passed by throughout those 33 years and a half, they were all pleasing to God. Why? Because this man, this person, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, everything he did, everything he said, everything he thought of, the way he walked, the way he behaved, the way he lived, did it all according to what pleases God. Now, this is humanly impossible. Jesus, the man, did it. Jesus, the man, did it, my beloved.
But now, there is a question here that must be asked. What is this question? What did Jesus Christ gain in his life on earth? Since he walked by faith, since he followed God wholeheartedly, since he fulfilled the entire law of God, what did Jesus, the man, gain out of that life that he spent on earth? Well, let's see what he gained. Shall we? Are you ready? Come on, say something. Say something, I'm what? What does the song say? Something, I'm what? I'm giving up on I am, yeah. Say something, I'm giving up on you. Well, give up and go home, bro. Stop wasting my time. All right.
So, what did the Lord Jesus gain after all the life sacrifices he did? What did he gain out of the life he spent on Earth? Was he rich? No. He was the poorest of the poorest of the poorest people on Earth you could ever come across. No one was ever born in a manger in the midst of animals. Jesus was born where animals lived. No one compared himself to a bird or an animal. And the reason why nobody compared themselves to a bird or an animal because they found another human being that they were able to compare themselves with. But when it came to Jesus the man, he found no other human being that he could compare himself with. He compared himself with the bird and the animal. So, he was the poorest of all and the lowest of all. Yet, he followed God. And because he found no human no other human being that he can compare himself with, he said, "The birds of the sky have a nest to dwell [music] in. Foxes have holes, but the son of man," referring to himself, "but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." Is this what you gain, Jesus, by following God? He said, "Yes." Why do you believe in him? Why do we believe in him? It's interesting, huh?
Now, let's go further. When he said, "Foxes have holes and birds have of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." Matthew 8:20. Matthew 8:20. No one ever lived on earth and never had one penny in their pocket. No one ever lived on the face of this planet and never throughout their entire life on earth did not even have one cent. Everyone must have had a cent, even the street beggar they've got money. But when they came asking Jesus Christ of Nazareth, "Do we give taxes to Caesar or not?" The Lord Jesus said, "Show me a denarii." Why did he ask for a denarii? Because he did not have even a dollar in his pocket throughout his life on earth. Never ever you would find a penny in the Lord's pocket. 33 years and a half, not even a cent in his pocket. Can you ever live without a dollar in your pocket at all? You must have had a dollar at some stage. Jesus never had that dollar throughout his life on earth. Even at his death, he did not have a tomb to be buried in. He was buried in a borrowed tomb of someone who was very rich called Joseph of Arimathea. This Joseph, he carved this tomb for his for himself, so that when he dies, he is to be buried. So, this tomb was brand new. Nobody had entered it before ever. Jesus, even on his burial day, did not have a tomb to be buried. It was given by Joseph of Arimathea. He borrowed it off him. Not a penny in his pocket, he did not have any other human being that he could compare himself with. He compared himself with the bird of the sky and the and the foxes of the land. And when he came to die, he didn't have a burial site. They gave him one. This is the way our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lived in this world.
Now, why does the Holy Bible tell us all this about the Lord Jesus? Why? Why is it documented that Jesus never had money, Jesus never had anyone, he was below all humanity, Jesus did not have a burial? Why? Why go through this extreme and tell us the story about Jesus? Because the Holy Spirit wants to send a very profound message to everyone who chooses to follow God. Jesus is the perfect example on how to follow God. That's why the Holy Bible revealed how Jesus lived and what he had and what he had not.
My beloved, the Lord Jesus could have been very easily born in a king's palace. In fact, the Holy Mother, our sweetheart, our Holy Mother Mary, the crown of our glory, she could have been born in a royal family and Jesus would have been born in a royal family. He would have come from a rich family. Neither the Holy Mother was born in a royal family nor the Lord Jesus. The Holy Mother was poor and her son was the poorest of all. He surpassed his mom when it came to poorness. He surpassed his mom. But why was the holy mother poor and the Lord Jesus lived the poorest? Why? To teach us all the following.
We measure joy we, as human beings, as Christians, and humans in general, we measure joy with richness, with health, with success, with fame, you name it. All external matters, all tangible matters, all materialistic matters. That's how we measure joy. And we think that if someone is rich, if someone is healthy, if someone is successful, if someone is married and has beautiful children, if someone is without any issues, we think that God is pleased with this person. That's why this person was rich, this person was healthy, this person had a mansion and drove an expensive car, beautiful family, no problems. God must be pleased with that person. And this thought, I can assure you, I can assure you, I can assure you, is extremely wrong from its roots. Extremely wrong.
We measure God's satisfaction by the positives and the negatives. We measure God's satisfaction by the positives and the negatives. In other words, what I mean by that, when God gives us, it is positive, it is good. And when God takes away from us, it is negative, it is bad. That's how we measure God's satisfaction. And that's how we measure our joy even when it comes to our relationship with God. When God gives me, it's good. It's positive. I'm joyous. And when God takes away from me, I it is negative. It is bad. I lost my joy because God took it away from me. How can we be joyous in a negative situation? This we say, when God gives, I'm happy. When God takes, I'm not. That's how I measure joy.
But not only us we say this, even mighty saints said it. We go to a person called Job in the Old Testament. Look what Job, my beloved, says. Shall we He said this to his wife, "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" Woman, are you out of your mind? Do we only accept good from God, and we don't accept bad from God? So, I go to my father Job, and I ask him this, "My father Job, what do you mean by adversities? Are you saying that God gives bad things?" He says, "Yes." He says, "He gives good, but he also gives bad." What happened, Job? He said, "When God gave me wealth, that was good. But when God took that wealth from me, that was bad, adversity. When God gave me children, that was good. But when God took them away from me, they all died, that was bad. You see, God gives good and bad. But Job, one thing he did which was not bad. He accepted the good and the bad from God. So, he is a little bit better than us. We accept only the good, but we reject the bad that comes from God. But Job and us are all wrong. God never gives anything bad. God never gives anything bad even when he takes things away from you. But this is our judgement. Not God's.
However, my beloved, if we go to God's way of thinking in order to live a life of joy, we ask him this, "What is your concept of joy, Lord? Can you please explain what is the concept of joy to you? How do you define joy? Cuz I want to live in joy, but I am struggling cuz every time things go wrong, I'm losing my joy. Every time things don't happen the way I planned did them, I lose my joy. Every time those are shut, I lose my joy. I applied for a job and I was so hopeful that I'll get it. I even prayed frantically, fervently, and I begged the Lord Jesus, "Please, Lord, make this job mine." And I was rejected. So, that hope that I was hoping to be joyous AND I WAS MOTIVATED TO be joyous, it got shattered and thrown out of the window because the door was slammed in my face. But, Lord, you said, "Ask and it shall be given to you. Pray and I will grant you." What happened, Lord? I prayed. I wanted to marry Rachel. She married someone else. I I opened established a business and it went bankrupt. MY FRIEND, A lifetime friend, just deserted me. Why? I'm so sad. Where is the joy gone? Why? Because God took it away. He took things that meant immensely for me, big, immensely big. He took it away. I can't be happy anymore. I can't be joyous anymore. So, what is your concept, Lord, of joy?
God will say to all of us the following. The concept of joy for me is number one, being near me or being far from me. That is the concept of joy in the eyes of God. What is your concept of joy, Lord? By being near me or being far from me. Meaning, God says, "What is good is when you are near me. And what is bad is when you are distant from me." That's how I define it. What is good is when you are close to me. And what is bad is when you are distant from [music] me.
My beloved, this is the way God's measure for joy. I'll give an example. If illness will get you close to God, then it is good. God will will allow the illness to come your way. But for me, illness is bad. Lord, I want to be wholesome. I want to I want to be, you know, free of any illness because I want to enjoy life. Why you Why you doing this me, Lord? But the Lord looks through his infinite wisdom, through his infinite knowledge, and he sees that this illness is going to bring you close to me, then I will allow it. It is not I that brought the illness, but illness was the only way to get your attention and bring you back to me. Then whatever gets you close to me, I God will do will never hesitate of doing. And before you know it, bang, an illness comes out of nowhere, slaps you in the face, and puts you in your spot, a full halt. You don't move anymore. Because what you were doing before, God was saying, >> [music] >> you are walking away from me. The gap is getting bigger and wider and deeper. I can't let you do it your way because if I do, you will end up in hell, eternal death, total and utter separation from me forever. Then illness will fix you. Satan, smack him. This is one of the reasons why God kept Satan and never wiped him fully. He is a tool used by God for things God does not do or they do not emanate from him. God doesn't kill. God doesn't hurt. But he will use Satan to hurt you. Because the unless he hurts, unless you get hurt, you're not going to listen to God. So, whose fault is it? God's? Of course not. It's my fault because I want to do it my way. So, if illness will get you close to God, God says it's good. Let's do it. But, if good health will get you distant [music] from God, then that good health to God is bad. So, the good health, which is good in your eyes, to God is bad because that good health kept you away from the Lord. Why? Because when I'm healthy, I don't tend to be that obedient. But, when I am sick, oh yes, I am very obedient. Uh, I am very obedient, brother. But, when I'm healthy, who's going to stop me? Nobody. It's a free country. I'll go wherever. I'll do whatever, whenever, with whomever, and nobody can stop me. It's a free country. I'm 18 plus. I know what I'm doing. Mom, Dad, if you insist, I'll leave the house and live by myself with my friends. The government will support me. I don't need you, nor your God that you believe in. Wow. Wow. Wow. So, the good health distanted you from from God, but the illness brought you closer. So, God says, "Even though illness is a negative thing, but in my side, it is good [music] because whatever brings you close to me, that is joy for me." Anything that will get you close to God is good. And anything that will get you distant from God is bad. Bad.
This is why God puts us >> [music] >> in his school and allow us to go through different subjects of life to teach us and finally give us the graduation certificate. So, we all go through trials. We all go through our ups and downs. This is the school of God for all of us. And what is this school? Your life on earth. Your life on earth in this world is a school that God allowed us to go through to learn prior to being graduated because graduation is entering [music] God's kingdom. And unless you graduate, there is no God's kingdom. So, what do you do? Before you become a doctor, you must go to school. And you must study, and you must enter exams, and you'll fail at this subject, and you will, you know, sort of struggle with this subject, and you'll sweat it out. 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50, 90, 100. And finally, I graduate. My life on earth is God's school for me. And in this life, there are so many subjects God is trying to teach me about life. And how to truly follow him, and truly live for him, and truly love him. Because if I cannot love God on earth, trust me, even if he brings me to his kingdom, I will not be able to love him. I can assure you this. If you are unable to love God while in the flesh, you will not be able to love him outside of the flesh. You will not. You'll get the shock of your life. If you do not get used to love here, you can't handle it up there. It's too [music] immense, too enormous for someone who loved not on earth to live like that love forever. It's a life sentence. Suffocating. So, that's why God wants you to do it his way, not your way, my beloved child.
You see, on on earth, we go through primary school, secondary school, high school. We go some of us to TAFE, we go to universities. And after a long journey of studying, finally, I put on that garment and that beautiful hat, and I walk up on that stage, and the principal or the dean of that university says, "Congratulations, Mr. John." Congratu- I was going to I was going to say another name, but it doesn't matter. Congratulations, Mr. John. You finally graduate, and you are an engineer now. You are a teacher. You are this and that. And everybody applauds, and you are extremely joyous. That joy did not come easily. >> [music] >> It came through a lot of long nights, sleepless nights of studying till the morning, preparing for the exams, for the assignments, for the PhD. It It took a sacrifice, and a huge one. But when the moment of graduation came, every sweat, every hardship, every failure, every dark moment, every rock bottom, every every narrow narrow path that I walked in, it was worth it. It was worth the graduation moment because I made it. Trust me, it will be worth every hardship we accept for the Lord when we make it to heaven. When you make it there, you'll say, "Whatever I did, I am even ashamed to mention it to the Lord that I've sacrificed my life for your sake, Lord, when he shows me the glory that he has prepared for me before the creations of the world, I will be put to shame for the love and the glory Christ has prepared [music] for you and I.
So, as God puts us through his school in order to learn his way, not our way. When we look at our father Jacob, man, this beautiful father Jacob cops it a lot from so many preachers, including this good-looking one. Our father Jacob, let's look at his life story for a moment. You see, my beloveds, there are three of them. The top of the top of the list is our father Abraham. The lesser one to Abraham is Isaac. The least of all is Jacob. Jacob Not bad. Abraham, the father of faith. Isaac, so holy. Jacob, last. He was last. In the list, he was last. First, Abraham. Second, Isaac. Last was Jacob. See, my beloved, I love our father Jacob. You know why? Because [music] he was an absolute failure like me. I love him for being that failure. Let me tell you this. There are certain things in life you will never You will never understand until you fail. And there are certain things in life you will never understand until you succeed. Don't ever think success always is good. Extremely dangerous because success always gives you self-pride where you become a big massive balloon and you'll be engulfed by Satan before you even blink your eyes. Pride, one of the most dangerous things you could ever have. Whatever you do, pray and beg the Lord Jesus to deliver you from pride. Extremely dangerous. Pride was the reason for this angel to fall from the highest place in heaven to the lowest place in hell. [music] From angel to Satan. Pride was the reason.
So, my beloveds, failures are good because they will teach you things successes can never teach you. So, that's why I love our father Jacob. He was a failure throughout his life on earth, like me. I found somebody that I can, you know, be friend. Let's come. All our father Jacob's life, he relied on himself, never on God. Throughout his life's journey on earth, he always relied on himself, never on [music] God. He lived, and this is why, he lived in bitterness all his life. When a person relies on themselves and not on God, I can guarantee you they will never find peace. Their life is always bitter. And no matter how wealthy they are, and how healthy they are, and how famous they are, you sit with them for 5 minutes, you will find them the most miserable people on the face of this planet because from outside they look filled from but from inside they are the most empty vessel you could ever come across. They are lost from inside. Empty. That's why far from all of you some people end up taking this life by themselves committing suicide. Why? Because they became so void from within. They could not handle this emptiness. It haunted them beyond their handle. That's why they said, "I want to end up this misery." And they did.
So, my beloveds, because our father Jacob relied on himself all his life not on God, he lived a very bitter life. He complained and whinged about anything and everything. Whinger. You come and talk to people nowadays, the 21st century. What's wrong? I don't know. What do you want to do? Don't ask. Do you want to go? No. Why? Because. What makes you happy? Not sure. Why you grumpy? Leave me alone. You want to eat? You eat. You want to come? You go. You want to dance? Shut up. You want to get married? In your dream. What's wrong? We don't know. We don't know what we want. We don't know who we are, what we are, and where we heading. People are lost or confused because God is missing in their life. When you When you don't have When we don't have peace, we will whinge and complain about anything and everything. Yet, we If we sit and think about it, what are we whinging and complaining about? Do you have a house? Yes. Are you healthy? You go and come? Yes. You've got a job? Yes. Uh you There is food on the table? Yes. Um You still got teeth in your mouth? Yes. You haven't done your eyebrows in Istanbul? Laser guided missile? No. They're natural. Then, what are you whinging about? Do you want me to take you to a nursing home? Do you want me to take you to Westmead Children's Hospital? Do you want me to take you to Africa? Do you want me to take you to Gaza? Do you want me to take you to the Middle East? Do you want me to show you how people are living? What are you complaining about? Do you understand while we speak there are people without hands, without legs because they were blown off by a bomb exploding next to them? Do you know as we speak there are people who are left orphans because the entire family was buried under the rubble of all those massive concrete blocks? What are you whinging? See, the problem of the human being is not what I have or what I don't have. The problem is one thing. Are you with God or are you not? That is the whole problem of every single human being. Are you with God or are you not? It matters not what material things you possess.
See, materialism, in fact, it does it never gives you joy. If anything, it gives you heartaches and headaches because the more you have, the more enemies you're going to have. And the more people who are jealous and envious of you, you will never find peace the more you have. The only way you are set free, where you are truly joyous, and by the way, happiness comes from without. Joy comes from within. Anything and everything that makes you happy, remember, [music] it is external. What is external is temporal because the external is the tangible realm. Everything that is tangible is temporal, >> [music] >> and what is temporal never was yours, never will be. Remember this. That's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you Jesus Christ of Nazareth because he is the only true living God, and there is no other God but him. Come on, I want to hear an AM Amen. AM AM It is AM because when you mention Jesus, it's always AM morning. It's never PM night for he is the son of righteousness and the light of the world. Amen to that. Very good, and it is AM. Whatever is external gives you happiness, but what is external is temporal. That happiness is short-lived, but whatever is internal is eternal because internally only God gives, no one else. That's why joy comes from God because it is an internal thing, not an external thing.
How can I be joyous in distress? In other words, how can I be at peace from within when everything is going wrong in my life? It's a It's a subject in God's school I need to learn and overcome. I need to go through the exam and pass this exam of this subject in order to be graduated. You need to learn. So, our father Jacob relied on himself all his life. That's why he lived a very bitter life because God was not his guide in life. Therefore, he complained and winched about anything and everything. See, he complained and he said, "Joseph is missing." He complained and winched and he said, "Simeon is missing." He complained and winched and now you, my sons, you want to take Benjamin, the youngest of all, you want to take him away to Egypt? What do you want to do? What else are you doing to this old man? You shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave." Genesis 44:29. Look how much Jacob is complaining and winching. He is saying, "Joseph is gone, the love of my life because Rachel, whom I lay I worked 14 years slavery to my uncle Laban just to marry Rachel. She gave me two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. The one I was a slave for gave me bitterness. And the one that was given to me for free gave me glory, yet I rejected her. Leah. His uncle Laban, when Joseph when when Jacob came to ask for Rachel's hand from his uncle Laban, the uncle turned around and said, "How about my other daughter, Leah? She's still good-looking. What's wrong with you, Jacob?" He said, "No, I don't want her." He said, "I'll give her for free. You don't pay nothing." He said, "I don't want her." He said, "I want Rachel." He insisted on Rachel. He said, "Are you sure? Is this your last word? Final under the hammer." He said, "Yes, I'll never go back." He said, "Well, you better work for me as a slave for 7 years. I won't give you my Rachel just like that. 7 years of slavery." He said, "Here I come." He worked 7 years. After the 7 years, Laban changed his mind and he said, "No, I changed my mind. Another 7 years." And he worked another 7 years. 14 years of his life went in vain just to marry Rachel. And what did she give him? Joseph and Benjamin. My beloved, do you know that when she was giving birth to Benjamin, Benjamin killed his mom during giving birth. So, the love of Jacob's life was Rachel. Rachel was taken away from him by Benjamin when he was being born. And then Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold to the Ishmaelites merchants, gone as a slave to Egypt, and they came back and they said, "A vicious animal ate devoured your son. We found his his his jumper filled with blood." They dip it in a goat's blood. They said, "Because he couldn't see cuz he kept on crying and crying and crying after Joseph until he was blind. What he chose to have for himself thinking that this is his joy killed him. And what he rejected to have, which was Leah, what he rejected to have thinking she is not good for me, she gave him the sons. Out of those sons, the Sanhedrin Council of the Israelite nation was established. Priests, came from [music] Simeon, which is missing here, and Levi. Leah, Leah gave Simeon and Levi to Jacob and out of them came the Sanhedrin Council. And this is us. What we want, we will work slaves for it just to gain it. Yet, what we choose and work as a slave for will kill us at the end. And what is given for free, and that freely given thing will give you eternal life, we are rejecting it. Son, let's go to church. It is for free. You are receiving not just life, but eternal one. The body and the blood of Christ is offered freely from the holy altar. Son, let's go to church. No, I don't want to. But, I will pay money to go to the club. I will pay money to go to silly concert. Somebody comes from Hollywood. What is this? Are you a monkey or being electrocuted? Get a life and walk normal. They'll say words that are absolutely vanity of all vanities. Yet, we spend money just to go there and to come to church for free. No, I don't want Leah. I don't want for free. I want to be a slave to gain Rachel. But Rachel will kill you at the end. Do you know the name Rachel in the Hebrew Aramaic language what it means? The pronunciation of Rachel is Rachel. Rachel. Rachel means the one who departs. The one who departs. And who departs? The one who dies. So who's Rachel here as a name? The world. We work as slaves to gain the world, but the world as the end will give me the grave death. Everything I worked for was taken away by death. And Leah, heaven, not the world, is given freely by the blood of the lamb of God. It wasn't free, but the blood made it for free. It was then the ultimate cost. It took Christ to die to make heaven for me and you for free. Yet we don't want to come to church. Why? Because I want to do it my way, not God's.
I need to finish. Now, so look. So now he said, "Joseph is missing. Simeon is missing. You want to take Benjamin? Uh you're going to kill me. You're going to take me to the grave with my gray hair." The climax of winging. These were his feelings. Jacob spoke with feelings, not with faith. He said, "Joseph is missing. Simeon is missing. Benjamin you want to take." But my The is, was his feeling right or wrong? No, he was right because Joseph was missing, Simeon was missing, and Benjamin was about to be taken away from him because Pharaoh asked for Benjamin, who was Joseph. However, my beloveds, we say [music] to our father Jacob, "Come, my beloved father Jacob, and once in your life look at things with the eye of faith, not the eye of sight." We walk by faith, not by sight. So, when he looked, when he used the eye of sight, he his feelings kicked in. Joseph is missing, Simeon is missing, Benjamin will be taken away from me. I am going to the grave. You're going to kill me now. I can't handle it anymore. But, when he looked with the eye of faith, did not realize that Joseph was not missing. God made him the leader of Egypt. When he realized that Simeon wasn't missing, he was enjoying his life in the palace of Egypt, Cairo, living it to its fullest because he was spoiled by his brother Joseph, whom he had not discovered as yet. And then, when he looked with the eye of faith, him, Jacob, Benjamin, and the other sons, all of them went together to Egypt, and they lived there >> [music] >> until Joseph died. They lived like kings.
What you feel is not what faith is. When you say, "I'm finished," when you say, "It's hopeless case," >> [music] >> when you say, "This is my end, and what a miserable end," this is your feelings speaking because you relied on yourself, not on God. And when you rely on yourself, you can only see things through the naked eye, which is sight. The moment you walk by sight, you will walk by feelings. Feelings are one big lie. Feelings are not the truth. The truth is what faith gave you. When you have faith in Christ, whatever you thought was totally wrong. Who said you're finished? For as long as Jesus Christ lives, you live. No one. The Lord says, "I have engraved you in the palms of my hand." And what went through the palms of the hand? The nails. The nails, the wounds that were afflicted upon the Lord. Those nails, he says, "By those nails, I have engraved your names in my wounds." Can anyone wipe your name from those wounds? Impossible.
When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he rose in a glorified body, meaning spiritual, three-dimensional, but spiritual. >> [snorts] >> When he comes again, those who are his, those who belong to him, he will give them the glorified body. However, this is where John the beloved says we will be Christ-like. We will be dressed up in the glorified body which he rose with on the third day. But, with one difference, the glorified body of the Lord Jesus will always show the wounds that were afflicted upon him. So, the places of the nails in his hands and his feet will always be in that glorified body. Even though that it is spiritual, but when you see him, you can tell this is Jesus out of billions and zillions of others because he has the only glorified body that have the wound. Us? No, we'll be normal. Why God kept the wounds or the places of the wounds even on the glorified body? To remind all of us the reason why all of us are in heaven is because of the wounds. It's a reminder. What brought you to heaven are the wounds. That's why I keep them forever on that glorified body. And for as long as the wounds are kept forever, so as your names are kept forever. No one take you away from my father's hand. And I and the father are one. No one can take anything from my father's hand. And then he comes with this powerful statement, I and the father are one. Can a prophet dare to say I and God are one? Impossible. Even if he did, he would have said God and I are one. But to put yourself before God? That is a very daring statement to claim. Jesus did it. He said He didn't say the father and I. No. He didn't put the father first than himself. He put himself first. He said I and the father are one. A simple information for you. Some people, even in the Christian world, they question this. Is the father greater than the son? Even the Christians. Is the Is God the father greater than the God the son? Because we think again earthly. So, the father is greater than the son. I'll ask you this. Who comes first, the father or the son? Huh? Who comes first, the father or the son? The son? The son comes first? Oh, who says the son? Put your hand up. Okay, who Who says the father? Put your hand up. You are all absolutely wrong. On an earthly level, when a couple get married, the man, when he gets married, he becomes the husband, and the woman, when she gets married, becomes the wife. When they have a child, the man becomes the father, and the woman becomes the mother. I ask you this, when did this man become the father? When the son came. So, who came first? No, they both came at the same time. For as long as there was no son, there was no father. And for as long as there was no father, there was no son. But when the son came, the father came. So, who came first? No, both of them came together. So, who's first? None of them. They're all equal. Because without the son being born, he would have been a husband, not a father. You with me? >> [music] >> So, the moment the son was born, the moment the father also came into existence. So, when the Lord Jesus says, "I and the father are one," of course, cuz none of us came before the other. We are all coexistent together at the same time from the very beginning. That has no beginning. And this was just outside of our topic, but since I mentioned it, I had to clarify it.
Let's come back very quickly. Another 10 hours, please, not more. Um So, when Jacob looked with the eye of faith, he realized that missing Joseph is the leader of Egypt, that missing Simeon is enjoying a life, a royal life in the palace in Egypt and [music] him and Benjamin and the whole family were saved and delivered and went and lived like kings and queens in Egypt, my beloved. That's when you look with the eye of faith and trust that the Lord has got it all. Nothing is missing. Nothing. Even when you lose the eye, nothing is missing. Nothing. Faith. Faith in the Lord. Focus on the Lord. Focus on the Lord.
My beloved, we must look and we need to look through the eye of faith in order to be joyous. When our father Jacob graduated from God's school, what kind of a certificate did he receive? Who can tell me? What kind of a certificate did Jacob receive from God when he graduated? I'll tell you what kind of a certificate he received. He received this certificate. What is it, Bishop? When Jacob came to bless Joseph and his other sons, you find it in Genesis 49:26. Genesis 49:26, our father Jacob is blessing Joseph and he's saying the following words. He says to Joseph, "The blessings of your father." So, who's Who's Joseph's father? Jacob. So, "The blessings of your father." He mean He means Jacob. Jacob is Joseph's father. "The blessings of your father," meaning Jacob, "have excelled the blessings of my ancestors." And who are the ancestors of Jacob? Abraham and Isaac. What did I say earlier? Who is the top of the list? Abraham. Who is the second of the list? Isaac. Who is the last failure of all? Jacob. Here he says, "The blessings of your father, Joseph, who is Jacob, the failure, have excelled the blessings of Abraham, top of the list, and Isaac, second of the list. I surpassed them all when I graduated from God's school." And isn't it the case? Absolutely. [music] Because the nation was not called the nation of Abraham, nor the nation of Isaac. It was called the nation of Israel, who [music] is Jacob. Wow. The failure became the father of the nation. When you believe in God. And when you let God do it for you. No longer you. And until now, it's the nation of Israel. And who is Israel? Jacob. Jacob. The failure. We need to learn from our father Jacob life [music] story. It was documented in the Holy Bible for us to learn from. Because all of us are Jacob. All of us are Simon. All of us are Judas Iscariot. All of us. These names are not put there so that we can put the blame on them and say, "Oh, look at this guy. Shame on you." That guy is me. It is written for me. God is the judge. Don't ever blame anyone any name mentioned in the Bible, no matter how bad they were. Don't ever. Those names are you, my beloved. God wrote them for you. God is the judge. But he wrote them for you to learn from their mistakes so you don't do that mistake.
The love of joy in distress is to see the glory of God at the end. Now, that is [music] joy. When you're able to be glorified at the end, it was worth every sweat along the way. Who lived this joyous life in distress to the fullest in the New Testament? [music] Who can tell me? Who lived this joyous life in distress to the fullest in the New Testament? Saint Paul and his companion Silas. Paul and Silas, they were traveling to go to Asia Minor to preach the gospel. As they were going to go to Asia Minor to preach the gospel, the Holy Spirit stopped them. He said, "No, I do not want you to go to Asia Minor." Asia Minor nowadays is Turkey. So, I don't want you to go to Asia Minor. Okay, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is God. Okay, God, where do you want us to go then? He said, "I want you to go to Macedonia and more specifically and precisely to a city called Philippi." So, they changed their direction from going to Asia Minor, they ended up going to Macedonia, Europe, Greece, and they went to Philippi to preach the gospel. The moment they opened their mouths in Philippi and preached, they got bashed so badly, there was no tomorrow. They bashed the daylight out of Paul and Silas. And then they were thrown into this prison. [music] Into a little dungeon, each one in a little dungeon. Paul here and Silas here. And how did they tie them in that dungeon? There was a a metal bar about 65 cm in height put in their stomach and their belly, and then their arms stretched and chained to the ground, and their legs stretched and chained to the ground. So, that metal bar was really piercing through their tummy. Even when they wanted to talk, they were breathless. Barely they could talk. Like that. They They were suffocating. It was the bar was so far going to their stomach. Blocked all the air air air passages. And then St. Paul turns to his friend Silas. He
"My friend, if we were in Asia Minor, what we would have been doing now?"
"If we were in Asia Minor now, Silas, what would we been doing?"
He said, "We would have been praising the Lord."
He said, "Well, what's the difference? Let's praise him here as well."
So, they started praising the Lord. An earthquake took place. Shook the whole prison. Every bar, every door opened. Every chain fell off not only Paul and Silas, but every prisoner that was held captive in that prison. All chains fell off their hands and feet, and all the doors opened.
The prison warden wanted to kill himself with a sword, thinking that those prisoners had escaped the prison. Because they were murderers. Some of them were held for 20, 30, 15, 20, and 10 years. Of course, it is the ultimate opportunity to run away. He thought they all escaped. Before they kill him, he wanted to take his life and kill himself.
St. Paul stopped him. He said, "Don't do that. No one escaped prison." He went and checked every cell and he saw the murderers, the you name it, all no chains, doors wide open, but remained in their place, never escaped.
He said, "What happened?" That warden, he looked at St. Paul thanking God. He looked at St. Silas thanking God. He looked at the prisoners, murderers, second-class citizens, bad, ugly people, still in prison, not escaping.
He said, "Why? Why didn't you escape?"
They said to him, "All the time that we spent outside of this prison, we thought we were free. But today and this moment, the God of Paul made us realize and gave us true experience. We lived what true freedom is all about. For the first time in our entire life, we have tasted joy and freedom once and forever. It is today. Therefore, [music] we've realized our joy and freedom is inside the prison with God, not outside the prison with Satan."
So, what is freedom? To do whatever you wish and be controlled and driven by Satan or to be captivated in chains for Christ to do his will. He invites that warden. He invites Paul and Silas to his house and then he says to Paul, "I want you to baptize me and my entire family in the name of your God."
The Holy Spirit said, "Paul and Silas, if you had gone to Asia Minor, they were dying to see you. They all love you there. They were dying to see you. They would have welcomed you like kings. You would have had the ball of your life, the joy of your life, but that's not what I choose to be good for you, Paul. >> [music] >> What is good for you is to save an atheist. It's to save a pagan person. It's to save someone who worships false gods. And the only way for you to save these atheists, you had to be bashed and thrown into prison. Because you did it my way, Paul, I showed my glory through you to all those prisoners, murderers, and to the head of that prison, the warden. You've converted all these souls. This wouldn't have been possible if you had not listened to me. Because Asia Minor for you, Paul, was good. Philippi was bad. But what is good for you is bad for me, I God. And what is bad for you, Paul, is good for me, I God. Whose way are you going to choose? Your way or my way? If you choose your way, you'll be glorified by people. But if you choose my way, you will be glorified by the almighty God himself. Amen."
"Love the Lord, my beloved. Don't be discouraged to come to church. And when you come, I beg you, be a disciple for the Lord Jesus. Bring people with you. Invite your mom. Invite your dad. Invite your brother. Invite your sister. Invite your cousin. Invite your friend. Stop letting people taking you to the world. Stop letting people taking you to Satan. Start bringing people from the world to Christ because there is no other way you will find your joy and freedom until you are embedded in the one and only Jesus Christ of Nazareth. All glory and to his holy and mighty name. He is the way, the truth and the life, the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the morning star and the evening sacrificial lamb. He is the life and the resurrection. He is the light of the world, the sun of righteousness and healing in its wings. He is the rock of all salvations. He is the living waters. He who drinks of me shall never thirst, but he who eats my body and drink my blood shall live in me forever. In me forever. Love the Lord, my beloved. Come to church. Don't ever think this is time wasted. And I'll leave you with this, 100%."
"I had a small talk to the teens for Christ, for my beloved teenagers, sons and daughters, before we started here. And I've I've shared the story with you and I want to share it again. Two friends. >> [snorts] >> One of them got sick. He was hospitalized. The other one said, 'I must visit my friend in hospital. He is more than a brother to me.' So, he goes to see him. He enters that room and he looks at the face of his friend and he finds that face to be the saddest, most miserable [music] ever. He asked him, 'My friend, are you okay? What's wrong?' He He got worried. He thought it's bad news. His friend is dying or something. He said, 'Are you okay?' He said, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm okay.' He said, 'Just before you arrived, Jesus was here. He visited me and he just left before you arriving.' He said, 'What?' He said, 'Yeah, the Lord was here.' He said, 'The Lord came himself to visit you and you are What are you Have you lost your mind? You should be the happiest, the most blessed person on the face of this earth.' He said, 'You don't understand, my friend. Let me explain. Yes, true, the Lord visited me. He was here, but he was here in this room for 1 minute only, and he left.' [music] He said, 'You know why, my friend?' He said, 'Why?' He said, 'Because the Lord said to me, the entire life I gave you on earth, the only time you gave to me was 1 minute out of your entire life. That 1 minute that you gave me, I'm giving it back to you now, when you need me the most.' >> [music] >> He said, 'If I had known, I would have given him my entire life, because when Jesus comes, I want him to leave, not.' The time you spend for the Lord, the Lord will spend that time for you, when you need him. Don't ever think you've wasted your time coming to church, even if your bones are aching, and you want to go. The Lord is recording everything. He knows you all one by one. He knows all of you. He's your creator. He knows you more than you. >> [music] >> Today, your names were written. It's reported to the Lord Jesus that you came to this church, >> [music] >> St. Shimoun Bar Sabbae and St. Mary's Church Cathedral in Wakeley. And you see you came at 6:30. Some of you came at 6:35. Some Some of you came at 6:39.5 seconds. Some of you came at close to 7:00. Um naughty boys and girls. All right, but you you've got your excuses. I I don't I don't, you know, but please come at 6:30. >> [music] >> Because the more time you spend with the Lord, the more time he will spend with you. The Lord is recording everything. When we walk after 1 year, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years, we will forget. The Lord will remind us. He'll say, 'You forget, I don't. I never forget. Let me remind you, my child, why you are here in my in my heaven now in in my father's house. You know why? Because I'm going to show you how much time you spent for my sake on Earth.' I'll show you all the times that you've gone to church seeking [music] me, searching for me. Let me show you how many hours, how many days they add up to. That time saved you. That time saved you. Yet, we took it for granted. Don't we always, my beloved? So sadly [music] said."
"And finally, the Lord says something extremely amazing. Is God going to that extreme? He says, 'The strands of your hair are all numbered.' We read this and we don't understand what the Lord is saying sometimes. 'The strands of your hairs are all numbered.' Now, what does that mean? Let's say you have plenty of hair. Even if it's not plenty. If I ask you, this is your own hair. This is your own head. And you have that hair on your head. I ask you, can you count the number of strands in your head? You'll say, 'No.' The Lord not only counted them, but he numbered them. There is a humongous difference. You may be able to count, but to number them, impossible. You may say there is a million of them, but the Lord says, 'I numbered the million strands.' Meaning, this strand is number one. This strand is number 931. This one is 2,001. This one is 450,000. This is 630,000. This is number 1 million. When you get up in the morning and brush your hair, some of that hair falls. Do you look at it? Sometimes not. Do you count how many fell? No. I, God, I counted how many hairs fell from your head. And not only how many, the numbers. I said today, number one fell, number 1 million fell, number 900,000 fell, number 600,000 fell. If I am concerned about the strands that have fallen from your head, don't you think I am much more concerned about your well-being? I spend my time, I, God, spend my time worrying which number of the strand of your hair fell today. And you don't want to spend one moment with your God. Like love the Lord. Love him. What Oh. Red belt. Love the Lord. Bring more people to the church. Please be vessels. [music] Bring more people to the church. Encourage them. Invite them. And now we stand for the finale prayer. Thank you. >> [music] >> God bless."
"In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen. Lord Jesus, bless you, guide you, and protect you all the days of your life. Now and forevermore. Amen. Go in peace. The peace of Christ be with you always, my beloved. God bless."